Misery as instant millionaires abandon families over windfall

 

PHOTO:COURTESY

Martha Kidasi, 45, is cursing a windfall that has caused her family so much anguish.

The mother of five says it is now one month since her husband, a beneficiary of a State payout for compulsory land acquisition, left their home at Mwashuma village in Mwatate sub-county.

“I am told that my husband was last seen in the bank in Wundanyi town withdrawing money and he has not come back home. I have not heard from him again,” says the distraught woman.

She adds: “I am not even aware how much money he received for the two-acre family plot situated along the road. I just hear that he was spotted in Wundanyi and Voi towns. The problem is that he does not even have a mobile phone and it has become difficult to track him. I now leave everything to God.”

Reports suggest he might have pocketed Sh1.5 million for the land acquired by the Government to pave way for the construction of the 100km Taveta-Mwatate road.

“I have no one to turn to now. I am engaging in odd jobs to fend for my children,” the housewife told The Standard.

Kidasi is among scores of women whose new millionaire husbands went missing after they received millions of shillings in compensation recently.

The police and county administration officials confirmed that a number of women had lodged complaints that their men had deserted them after the windfall.

Senior national government officials confirmed that about 400 landowners received between Sh400,000 and Sh4 million to vacate their lands along the Taveta-Mwatate to pave way road expansion.

Thousands of ordinary folk have collectively earned billions of shillings in land compensation for the Standard Gauge Railway project and new roads as well as bonus payments to tea farmers.

More than Sh35 billion has been paid by the State as compensation for compulsory acquisition of land for the SGR project.

Last week, the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) and National Land Commission (NLC) paid more than Sh74 million to 169 beneficiaries in Mwatate sub-county.

The Government has allocated more than Sh750 million to compensate all the displaced people in the county.

The landowners were displaced by the on-going construction work of the more than Sh10.5 billion road project being implemented by the China City Construction Company (CCCC) Limited.

In February, 2013, 600 families at Rukenya village in Kirinyaga received a share of Sh5 billion payout from the Government to give way for Sh19 billion Rukenya irrigation dam.

Among the beneficiaries was Miano Kaminja, now 70, who received Sh7 million but now lives a life of penury after squandering the cash in a lavish lifestyle.

“Some men have neglected their wives and children in the rural areas and relocated to urban centres where they are lavishly spending their monies. A number of them have married second wives while others are spending the money on prostitutes,” said Mwatate Deputy County Commissioner Shufaa Mwijuma.

 

“Many women have complained that their husbands are nowhere to be seen since they received the money from the Government,” said Shufaa.

 Area Administration Police Officer Stephen Mwalozi said a man hunt for the runway husbands had started.

“We are looking for the men who have neglected their families after they received the money. Once we find them, we will charge them with neglecting their families,” warned Mr Mwalozi.

He regretted that the men did not consult with their families to plan how to use the money wisely.

“Most women thought that the money paid to their husbands will change the fortune of their families but this is not the case. The funds have instead brought misery to the families,” said the AP boss.

The last three years have been a season of plenty for some families in Coast, especially in Lamu and Taita Taveta counties, following compensation for large-scale infrastructure projects.

About 147 landowners shared out Sh1.3 billion for land taken by the State to establish the port under the LAPSSET project.

Many more, including schools along the proposed track of the Standard Gauge Railway in Taita Taveta, Kilifi and Kwale counties, received millions.

Some compensation claims for Mombasa residents have stalled over land disputes.

This windfall created instant millionaires where poverty earlier thrived. Some families have since built new houses and started businesses.

Many more, however, lost money in gambles but the biggest losers were often wives and children who were not even aware their husbands had received millions in their bank accounts.

Community leaders in Kwale reported early last year that one beneficiary blew up Sh1.2 million compensation in merrymaking in less than two months.

Distant relatives in parts of Mariakani, bordering Kilifi and Kwale counties, began flocking to the areas while sons and daughter of the families to be compensated quit their jobs in anticipation of the windfall.

In Lamu, many wives complained their husbands had not listed them as dependants or simply vanished into thin air after receiving millions.

One man, a former Telcom Kenya employee, was however not fortunate after his wife filed a case in court stopping him from withdrawing more than Sh2.5 million from his bank account. The money was compensation for land acquired for the SGR project.

Family members said by the time the court stopped the man from withdrawing money, he had already spent more than Sh1 million in Nairobi.

The court later ruled that the money be shared equally between the two, said a family member.

In another incident, a woman flushed out his husband from his hideout in a popular Voi hotel after disappearing for days after receiving SGR funds.

The man is reported to have received more than Sh800,000 for sale of his plot in Voi town and decided to live in a hotel with another woman.

At Kasarani village on the outskirts of Voi town, another woman divorced her husband of many years after he squandered over Sh500,000 he received from the SGR.

Another case was also reported of a man who deposited Sh200,000 SGR money at a shop in Voi town for miraa chewing.

David Otieno Magak, who received Sh460,000 in Mwatate, said he would use the money to buy land.

“I will use the money wisely,” said Magak, a teacher at Elija Mzae Secondary School.